rope bridge going nuts! Lengthconstraint problem???

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After quite a bit of work building the first parts of a rope bridge which will eventually be part of a map for me i decided to go check on what my bridge looked like and to make sure everything was working. unfortunately everything is not okay and i think my bridge has a mind of its own. it shakes in a very eratic way and stepping on to it kills you. i have each plank as a physbox and they are connected by lengthconstraints. all the lenth constraints are attached to a contraint manger and so i really cant figure this out. i have a picture below of what my nuts bridge looks like and any help as to why the hell it shakes like a maniac would be highly appreciated. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

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(looking at the pic it doesn't even look like some of the ropes are attached. they actually are its just that the bridge is moving so fast that i dont think it can render everything fast enough)<o:p></o:p>

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ummmm wrong image..... and did you set up your bridge so that its like
a suspension bridge. I have one suggestion for this, put a valuse of 10
or higher for any phy object in the mass scale, this way it wont freak
out when you step on it.

Sorry about the image its the first time i ever put one in a forum. what should i do so that everyone can view it??? thanks for the info on the mass i will try that as soon as i get a chance.

I just think you used the wrong link to display your image (dont know), perhapse just post a URL to where the picture is.

ok well first of all here is the link to a site which contains the picture.(sidenote; i just whipped up the site for this pic so dont mind it)

http://baf2099.tripod.com/halflife2damax/

So i tried two things to fix the problem-

1. i tried to set the mass and it didn't seem to affect it in anyway(no matter what the #)

2. i set the flag to start asleep thinking that might work but still nothing

It seems as though my bridge is determined to shake itself to death. Any ideas at all would be great cause all have mine have failed. thanx

The same thing happens with 1 physbox with 2 or more constraints. You
need to make a constraintmanager for each physbox. What I did for my
physbox bridge was use hinges between each plank.

Sorry about the image its the first time i ever put one in a
forum. what should i do so that everyone can view it??? thanks for the
info on the mass i will try that as soon as i get a chance.

Tripod isn't a very good image host.

I prefer imgshack.com or photobucket.com - both free, for imgshack you dont even need an account.

[edit] i just noticed the file size.. i retract my comment.

Have you tried changing the 'Add length' thing in the lengthconstraints? I had a physbox hanging from 4 ropes going psycho before, and just putting 50 or 100 in the Add Length value made it hang perfectly. Be sure to move your physboxes up though, they'll hang lower because of the added length.

I'm not sure how this would work for a series of physboxes attatched by lengthconstraints though, please tell me if this works because I'd like to make one myself :smile:

Edit: I think even a small number like 10 would work aswell... The less you use the stiffer the bridge gets, and if it's 0, then there's no slack on it, and several stiff attatchments are all going to be pulling in their own direction, therefore making it freak out :razz:

Ok so after much frustration and hard work on my bridge i finally have a calm and quite good rope bridge. In the end all that needed to be changed was the "add length" key in the phys_length constraint properties. amazingly the add lenghth number is only 1. So hours of work for me just to find out that i needed a value of 1 in my add length propertie. thanks for all the help and especially to Neural Scan who suggested the add length. i hope to finsh up this bridge soon and add it to the prefabs as i see the prefabs currently posted are very limited.

Glad I could help :smile:

I forgot to mark my post as an answer though (changed it now), mark it right so I can get those lovely SnarkMarks!